Offense is more stable than defense, so if you can assemble a viable attack, particularly if it's an aggressive passing attack, most of the work of building a long-term winner will be done.

Almost everyone accepts the Colts weren't nearly as good as their record, but even more universally accepted is that they obviously improved from 2011. Perhaps the biggest thing working against Indy is history itself, however.

Colts fans have grown entitled to making the playoffs and will be expecting an unbroken run of brilliance like what they got from 2002 to 2010. During that stretch, the Colts won double-digit games every season.

That kind of streak is likely impossible so expectations need to be recalibrated. There will be more ups and downs than the franchise experienced in the last decade.